Chuck Joy at the Literary Cafe – photo by Chandra Alderman
Cahallahan Visits the Ocean
1.
the music you can’t hear
we’re in New England
it’s a cold spring
when you read these words
how many years from now
you will appreciate our success
limiting global warming
strengths-based
today my work
is take a walk,
I’ve dressed the part
and approach my task with all the dread and eagerness
of a short shift in the clinic
where everything I fear is me
2.
we’re in the land of cedar shake shingle
Rick’s Fresh Seafood
a tumbledown cannery replaced by condos
and empty cathedrals
say hello to the Atlantic coast
taste the salt on the sea breeze
watch the glass on the sidewalk
enjoy the locals, their accent
just don’t stop, we’re here to walk
visioning Cody, from a parking lot
hey man, you’re a sight for sore eyes!
this is us, we’re here for a short time
all this sweetness gone in one heartbeat
these feet, their sneakers
the opportunity to make straight one more path
3.
the music we can’t hear
plays on, still playing, all dramatic screeches
or dolorous sonorities soon returned
to the beat, the big beat
a little love and affection
in everything you do
will make the world a better place
with or without you
our parking space left empty for a suitable interval
like Carmichael’s in Greendale, one year
our consciousness limitless now, nowhere, everywhere
we are the music you can’t hear
* * * * *
Chuck Joy of Erie, Pennsyl;vania, has authored All Smooth (Destitute Press) and Key West Quartet (Edinboro Book Art Collective). He has read at every Snoetry, the Confluence, two International Festivals, The Erie Book Store, Poets’ Hall, Mac’s Backs, and Woodlawn Diner. His new chapbook, Every Tiger Wants To Sing, is now available from Poets’ Hall Press.
See and hear Chuck this July 7th 2014 during the Monday at Mahall’s Poetry & Prose series in Lakewood, Ohio.